ESG Investing
ESG investing uses environmental, social, and governance information through integration, screening, themes, or stewardship; methods and outcomes differ.
Values-based screening, ESG investing, and impact investing differ in objective, portfolio method, and the evidence needed to support their claims.
Ethical, impact, and social-investing labels are often used interchangeably, but they answer different questions. ESG Investing can incorporate financially relevant environmental, social, and governance information without excluding any security. Socially Responsible Investing generally translates stated values into portfolio eligibility rules. Impact Investing adds an intentional and measurable outcome objective alongside financial return.
| Approach | Central question | Evidence to inspect |
|---|---|---|
| ESG investing | How does ESG information enter analysis, selection, construction, or stewardship? | Research process, criteria, holdings, valuation changes, voting and engagement records |
| SRI or ethical investing | Which investments are permitted under stated values or mission rules? | Screens, thresholds, exceptions, data sources, holdings, breach process |
| Impact investing | What measurable outcome is intentionally pursued alongside financial return? | Impact objective, baseline, metrics, monitoring, attribution, reporting |
A portfolio can combine all three approaches, but one label does not prove that the others are present. For example, an ESG-integration strategy may own a carbon-intensive issuer after pricing its transition risk. An SRI mandate may exclude that issuer under a revenue or activity screen. An impact investor may finance a specific project and track defined outcomes.
Impact investing requires the clearest separation between an investee’s beneficial activity and the investor’s contribution. Owning shares in a company associated with a positive theme does not by itself establish intentionality, additionality, or measurable impact. The Impact Investing guide develops that distinction through an evidence framework and worked example.
Start with the prospectus, mandate, or governing policy. Identify the exact method, data source, threshold, benchmark, and monitoring process. Then compare the description with current holdings and reports. If the claim concerns impact, distinguish issuer-reported activity from an outcome attributable to the investment.
Fees, diversification, valuation, liquidity, tax effects, and ordinary market risk remain relevant. A sustainability label does not make a fund safe, suitable, or likely to outperform.
This section is educational and does not recommend a fund, issuer, screen, or impact strategy. Definitions and regulatory classifications vary by jurisdiction and can change.
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ESG investing uses environmental, social, and governance information through integration, screening, themes, or stewardship; methods and outcomes differ.
Impact investing seeks positive, measurable social or environmental impact alongside financial return; evaluate intention, contribution, metrics, and risk.
Socially responsible investing applies ethical, social, environmental, religious, or mission-based rules to portfolio selection and ownership decisions.